Oregon on top, Auburn closes on Boise in AP poll

NEW YORK (AP) — Oregon tightened its grip on the top spot in The Associated Press poll Sunday, while No. 3 Auburn closed the gap on No. 2 Boise State.

In their third consecutive week as No. 1, the Ducks reached a high for first-place votes (49) and points (1,487) from the media panel after a decisive 53-32 victory at Southern California on Saturday night.

Boise State received seven first-place votes and 1,403 points after four voters switched from the Broncos to the Ducks.

Auburn also lost a first-place vote to Oregon. The Tigers got two votes as No. 1 after beating Mississippi 51-31, and are just seven points behind the Broncos. Boise State beat Louisiana Tech 49-20 on Tuesday.

No. 4 TCU also received two first-place votes. Idle Alabama moved up a spot to No. 5 and unbeaten Utah climbed to two places to sixth.

The Utes host the Horned Frogs in the first game in Mountain West Conference history to match top-10 teams.

Oregon also topped the BCS standings, followed by Auburn, Boise State, TCU and Alabama.

Wisconsin is seventh in the AP poll, followed by Ohio State, Nebraska and Stanford.

Missouri and Michigan State both took big tumbles after losing for the first time this season. The Tigers dropped seven spots to No. 14 after losing 31-17 at Nebraska.

The Spartans dropped 11 places to 16th after losing 37-6 at Iowa. The Hawkeyes moved up three spots to No. 15.

The loss to Oregon dropped USC out of the rankings for the second time this season and Miami is also out again after being upset 24-19 at Virginia.

Moving back into the Top 25 are No. 23 North Carolina State and No. 25 Nevada.

Oklahoma is No. 11, followed by LSU and Arizona.

No. 18 South Carolina, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech round out the first 20.

Joining N.C. State and Nevada in the final five are No. 21 Mississippi State, No. 22 Baylor and No. 24 Florida State.